In the Corners of Clouds

Dear Sir/Madam It has come to my attention that in your new print run of Roald Dahl books you have deemed it appropriate to make excessive edits in line with what you presumably see as a positive societal direction towards inclusivity. Regardless of the rightness or wrongness of this movement, it seems to me that you have forgotten that you are the distributors of literature, not the creators; a company , not a political, philosophical, educational or religious establishment. Yet here you are, acting as the final arbiters in one of the most important cultural debates of our time. By all means, refresh your covers and layouts, but your assertion that it is not unusual to ‘review the language’ is insidiously vague, reading a little like a literary get-out-of-jail-free card for whatever slavery to the system you engage in. And yes, I use the word slave in full awareness that for many it is an emotional catalyst. Well, good! What respect I must have for these others, to imagine that...